COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Blue Jackets made it 12 straight wins Friday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 to maintain the best record in the NHL.

Columbus, improved to 23-5-4 - its best start in franchise history - and has not lost since Nov. 26. Montreal, which outshot Columbus 37-24, fell to 21-9-4.

The win was a league-leading 20th for goalie Sergei Bobvrosky, who kept Columbus in the game despite an apathetic third period in which the Blue Jackets took just five shots.

Sam Gagner put Columbus on the board at 17:50 of the first period, 16 seconds into a Canadiens bench minor for too many men on the ice. It was his 15th goal on the season and sixth on the power play.

The Jackets made it 2-0 with Brandon Saad's 13th goal of the season, just 1:22 into the second period.

The Canadians dominated the puck in the third period, and made it 2-1 with Jeff Petry's goal at 9:08.

Notes: Both Columbus and Montreal were playing the second of two games in consecutive nights. ... The Blue Jackets signed RW Vitaly Abramov to a three-year entry-level contract. Abramov was the Jackets' third-round selection, 65th overall, in the 2016 NHL Draft. ... With his assist in the first period, Cam Atkinson became the fourth player in Columbus history to score 200 points. ... Seth Jones left the game at 1:12 of the first period after taking a puck to the mouth. ... Atkinson continued his career-high nine-game point streak. He currently leads the team in goals (15).

UP NEXT:

The Canadiens play Wednesday at Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jackets are off until Tuesday when they host Boston,

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Auston Matthews gave his hometown crowd something to cheer about early into his Arizona debut Friday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs rookie made a slick play to keep the puck onside in the Coyotes' end before setting up Connor Brown who promptly beat Mike Smith with a wrist shot short-side.

The goal gives Brown goals in two straight games, while Matthews now has 26 points on the year.

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All is well in the State of Hockey.

With a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers on Friday, the Minnesota Wild extended their current win streak to 10 games, setting a new franchise record.

Here's how they got it done:

The streak has helped solidify the Wild's hold on second place in the Central Division, sitting two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks with three games in hand.

Suffice to say the hiring of Bruce Boudreau as head coach is paying off quite nicely so far.

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It was a scene straight out of the Old West.

Arizona Coyotes fans acknowledged Shane Doan's 1,500th NHL game by tossing cowboy hats onto the ice prior to puck drop.

The appreciative captain put one on and signed some others before heading back to the locker room.

Doan played all but 74 of his games with the Coyotes, with his rookie season having been played when the club was still the Winnipeg Jets.

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Cam Atkinson is having a fine season, and he's jumping up the Columbus Blue Jackets' all-time scoring list as a result.

With an assist during Friday's game against the Montreal Canadiens, Atkinson joined rather exclusive company in the annals of franchise history.

Atkinson, then, ranks fourth in points by a Blue Jacket, behind only Rick Nash (547), David Vyborny (317), and R.J. Umberger (250).

Those modest numbers help to put the team's success so far this season in perspective, and point to how hungry the city is for a winner after 16 years of existence.

Over that time, the team has qualified for the playoffs only twice, and boasted three individual award winners:

• Nash: Maurice Richard Trophy, 2003-04
• Steve Mason: Calder Trophy, 2008-09
• Sergei Bobrovsky: Vezina Trophy, 2012-13

It's no wonder, then, that the team is drawing record television numbers in a season where Columbus sits at the top of the NHL standings.

Captain Nick Foligno will soon join Atkinson in the 200-point club, by the way. Two assists early in Friday's game put him at 194.

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That's how you place a puck.

Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov laid a perfect alley-oop pass to Alex Ovechkin, which the captain was able to corral before deking out Andrei Vasilevskiy for a pretty strike.

The goal gives Ovechkin 15 on the year and gave the Capitals a 3-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning midway through the second period.

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The New York Islanders took a moment Friday to acknowledge a popular former player.

Kyle Okposo, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent this past summer, was honored with a video tribute and a long ovation from the Barclays Center crowd during a break in action.

Okposo appeared in 556 regular-season games for the Islanders after being drafted seventh overall in 2006

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The New York Islanders aren't exactly the best team around these days, but they are giving one of their more notable celebrity fans the bobblehead treatment.

That would be Ralph Macchio of "Karate Kid" fame, seen below wearing a home jersey while adopting the crane kick pose made famous in the climactic scene of the 1984 film.

The Islanders enter Friday's action in the Eastern Conference basement, so perhaps head coach Jack Capuano will get his players to paint his fence and wax his car in an effort to turn the season around.

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It's been an interesting first third of the season for the Winnipeg Jets, to put it simply.

The club has looked to be a tire fire at times and a potential Cup contender at others. Nevertheless the club is just a point out of the final wild-card spot in the West thanks in large to some incredible individual performances.

Mark Scheifele for a time led the entire league in scoring and looked to be the hottest player going. Meanwhile, Patrik Laine has been flirting with several rookie scoring records en route to hammering 19 pucks past opposing netminders so far.

However, a player that has been nearly equally as impressive - but has not received the same praise - is Nikolaj Ehlers.

Now in his second season after a commendable rookie campaign that saw him post 15 goals and 38 points in 72 games, the 20-year-old is set to obliterate last year's totals.

Just 36 games into the season, Ehlers has nine goals and 29 points, putting him on pace to close out the season with 20 goals and 66 points.

What is surprising in all of this has been that while his linemates have populated the headlines, Ehlers has flown under the radar despite being just a point behind Laine and two back of Scheifele for the team lead.

His production in itself shouldn't be that unexpected. After all, the Jets selected him ninth overall in 2014 after Ehlers posted back-to-back 100-plus-point seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.

Ehlers is an exceptional talent who is only just scratching the surface as to what he can really do. If he keeps riding his current pace, it will be only a matter of time before he finally starts getting the credit he deserves.

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It's safe to say former NHLer Steve Downie's career won't be resuming in the desert.

The 29-year-old spent 26 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season, and he didn't enjoy the experience.

Downie took to Twitter on Thursday night and again Friday to express his displeasure with the organization and the club's head coach, Dave Tippett.

Some of the language is a bit colorful:

You can check out more of the holiday cheer on Downie's Twitter account.

A first-round pick, 29th overall in 2005, Downie scored 76 goals and added 120 assists in 434 career regular-season NHL games.

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